The legendary tales of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur

Posts Tagged ‘Movies’

I don’t know if you aware, but today is a very special day. Yes it’s Thanksgiving Eve, but that’s not what makes it special. No, today is the opening for The Muppets! Those who know me know that I have spent a large portion of my life dreaming of being a Muppeteer. I even perfected my Kermit the Frog impression after Jim Henson died in hopes that someone would hear it and maybe I could play the part of Kermit. I also do Mrs. Piggie, Animal, and the Swedish Chef.

Yesterday, Jason Segel was on Bob and Tom talking about the movie. He told a story about how during his press junket to promote the movie, he was on a Mexican talk show with Kermit. During the interview, he noticed the talk show host was beginning to tear up and his lip was quivering. He eventually just started crying and Jason and Kermit gave the guy a hug. This is the power the Muppets have. Jason said this on B&T, and I think it is so true. “The Muppets were the creators of modern comedy. They set the stage forMonty Python and Saturday Night Live.” But even further down the road, if it weren’t for the Muppets, we wouldn’t have The Simpsons or Family Guy. The Muppets showed it was funny to take something that belonged in the world of children, like cartoons or puppets, and put it in adult world situations and teach the same lessons Henson was teaching to kids in Sesame Street to adults still trying to figure life out. It really isn’t that easy being green, but if a frog from the swamp can take a bear, a pig, a dog, a whatever, and a band lead by a guy missing a bunch of teeth and put a show on Broadway or solve a diamond caper or sing songs with music legends or perform skits with stars of the silver screen, then anyone can. They are truly cultural icons, and no matter the outcome of this new movie, I for one am glad they are back.

During my morning commute, I enjoy listening to the Bob and Tom Show. During commercial breaks, however, I like to stay abreast of world issues, so I switch the dial over to NPR (I know. I’m so well-rounded.) So this morning I get into my car, Bob and Tom go to commercial break, so I switch over to NPR. They had their movie critic giving his review of the newly released Happy Feet 2. Could someone please tell me why on Earth a high-culture, intellectual station like NPR would be critiquing a movie about a young penguin that doesn’t know how to express himself?! I mean this guy was tearing into this light-hearted family comedy like it was something submitted to the Cannes Film Festival.

But it got me thinking, what with all of the news and media focused on celebrities and Hollywood and movies, and grumpy dudes laying a verbal smack down on a kid’s movie, we seem to be living in a world that is so critical and judgmental of everything. And if our entertainment is focused on the judgment of complete strangers, how are we treating the people that we know?

I last posted a week and a half ago on the 18th, right before we celebrated our friend Kelly’s birthday. We have been celebrating the holidays and birthdays every day since then. I’m sure this time of year is busy for most people, but for us, it felt a little out of control this year. I’m sure that is partially due to the fact that we hadn’t really had much time to recover from our big trip to Africa and Ryan’s audit a few days after. We’re really looking forward to getting some rest in January!

Here’s a snapshot of some of our celebrations:

Saturday, December 19–Our niece Penelopi’s first haircut! Followed by brunch with the Arthur/Sweet family at Loveless Cafe to celebrate Steve and Jackie’s 27th wedding anniversary! That night, Ryan and I had to split up for separate celebrations. I went to my annual Lipscomb girls Christmas party/gift exchange (we’ve been doing it every year since my Freshman year of college), and Ryan went out to celebrate his godsister Ashley’s 25th birthday. We both had a great time, and I’m proud to announce that I won the best present contest for the second year in a row! It’s hard to compete with gifts from South Africa, Swaziland and Paris. 🙂

Sunday, December 20–We went to the Coxes’ annual Christmas cocktail party.

Monday, December 21–The second annual next-day sushi celebration with the Coxes, Arthurs and Sweets.

Tuesday, December 22–Our nephew Ethon’s 5th birthday! I can’t believe he is getting so old and will be starting Kindergarton in the fall! (*tear) Ethon is such a riot, and definitely such a boy. He loves anything with wheels. He loves the Grinch. He plays rough and loves to wrestle. He’s so cute when he tries to play it tough, but we all know he’s really a softy on the inside. And he’s so sweet when he shows that side of himself and gives these huge bear hugs or just wants to cuddle. He’s always been so tall for his age, and he’s now as tall as his 7-year-old brother. So if you weren’t in our family, you probably would have stopped referring to him as a baby years ago. But he’ll always be our little baby.

Wednesday, December 23–Christmas Eve eve! It’s the anniversary of the day we met three years ago in Findley’s Pub at Opryland Hotel. We have the tradition of going back there with a group of friends every year now. This year, we had a great time there and then had an afterparty at our place that included Last Word, Apples to Apples and Scattergories. Our friend, and Ryan’s best man, Steve Kraski is in town. So we were excited to finally see him that night. It’s the first time we’ve seen him since the wedding. In honor of the anniversary of when we met, we’ll post our love story tomorrow. 🙂

Thursday, December 24–Christmas Eve! We finally got some time off work! We celebrated with my dad’s family at my Uncle Steve’s house at 2 p.m. and then had dinner and presents with the Arthur family that night.

Friday, December 25–Christmas!! We had a huge lunch and presents at my mom’s house, followed by sibling/nephew presents at my dad’s. We ended the Christmas festivities by watching some Christmas movie classics–Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. (As a side note, I actually bought Ryan Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas as a Christmas present, and I’m pretty sure he got a little weepy over it…)

Saturday, December 26–Supposed to be a day of recupperation. But actually we did returns and shopped some after Christmas sales.

Sunday, December 27–Our niece Penelopi’s 2nd birthday and birthday party! We just adore our little niece who loves sushi and opera and has the sweetest little voice and a sweet disposition to match. She calls me Nannah and my heart just melts. 🙂 Isn’t it amazing that children already have such a personality at such a young age? Penelopi is Ms. Independent, always wanting to do it for herself. She is strong-willed, but so sweet and polite at the same time. Which means it’s hard not to let her have her way. 🙂 Penelopi’s birthday party also meant we got to see some of our dear family and friends, including the Alabama Arthurs. Ryan’s twin cousins Benjamin and Mackenzie are in Kindergarton now, and they are just so much fun to be around. He spent the evening with them and they all went to see Ice. I spent the evening with my mom and sisters at our weekly Sunday night girls’ night. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to have girls’ night much lately, and with my baby sister Phallen being in Mississippi, it’s just not the same without her. She actually left to go back to Mississippi today, so I’m so glad we all got a chance to get together last night. She isn’t planning on coming back to Tennessee for quite a while. Yesterday was also Ryan’s godsister Ashley’s 25th birthday and my sister Brook and brother-in-law Zach’s 8th wedding anniversary. Happy birthday and congrats, guys! Love you!

I think that catches us up to the present. As I mentioned, tomorrow we’ll feature our love story. Going into the New Year, we have some fun Africa stories to tell, as well as some wedding shout outs we never got around to. Hope everyone is having an amazing holiday season! Get anything good for Christmas this year?

Ryan and I watched “Barefoot in the Park” two nights ago. In case you’re not familiar with it, it’s a play by Neil Simon that was made into a movie in 1967 starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. I was reluctant to watch the movie at first because, as much as I love old movies, sometimes they make me fall asleep if I watch them at night. But Ryan talked me into watching this one the other night, and I’m so glad he did. It was so funny! I’ve decided that it should be a required watch for all newlyweds. The film starts off with a newly married couple embarking on their honeymoon and continues to show their first two emotional, event-filled weeks together as husband and wife. What perfect timing that we watched it just 2 ½ weeks after our wedding! And we didn’t even plan it! We’re just that good. 🙂

If you haven’t seen it, you should watch it! And if you have, watch it again!

In other news, if you are friends with me or Ryan on Facebook then you already know, but for the benefit of all the non-Facebook users out there: we made Ashley’s Bride Guide!!! Ashley’s Bride Guide (ABG) is a Nashville-based bridal blog and a great resource for local brides to find vendors and inspiration. I stumbled across ABG when Ryan and I first started talking about weddings over a year and a half ago! We’ve seen so many weddings featured on the blog over the past 18 months; it’s so flattering to actually see our own wedding featured there! To be featured in itself is flattering enough, but to top it off, Ashley (who sees tons of weddings each year) went on to say our wedding is one of her favorites for 2009! Check out the post here. How exciting is that?!